Story of My Life
by tiduscanfly
Summary: After Tidus ends up on Bikanel post Sin's attack, one of his new friends disappears. With a mysterious girl in tow, he must set out to find her... Tikku, rated T for a very small amount of language, plus that's what FFX is rated...
1. Heroes and Heroines

It seems to me that everyone has that story. The story of their life. The one they want to scream to the world from the top of a mountain. Whether you know it or not, you have one, too. As do I.

Now, don't start complaining about me being self-centered. It IS my story, after all. When you've seen and done all the things I have THEN you can accuse me all you want. Now, I'm not going to try to fancy this whole thing up. I'm just planning to tell everything as it is. So don't gawk at me saying "Gimme' a break. NO ONE can do that." 'cause I don't wanna' hear it. I assure you I am not making any of this up.

Anyway, I'll just get on with this thing.

Have you ever seen a giant blob of something slimy and gross hanging in the sky swallowing up your home city? No? Really? It's quite common nowadays. Though, I must say, I was a bit panicky when I saw this with my own eyes. While everyone else was sane and tried to escape, there I was being forced by a guy in a large red coat to get closer and closer to this thing.

Before you ask me what's up with this guy, I'll tell you: I'm pretty sure he's insane. Sick. Not right in the head.

Well, I eventually ended up hanging on for dear life on the edge of a road that was floating in midair, magnetically drawn to this slimy creature. I asked this insane guy to help me, but he just looked at the thing and started _talking _to it.

I'm sorry if I mislead you with my comments about him earlier. The truth is: he _is _insane. What kind of guy goes around talking to giant blobs of matter?

What happened after that? I'm not really sure. But I knew- somewhere- I felt my old man. My stupid old man. My selfish, stupid, uncaring, ungrateful jerk of an old man.

That's the last thing I can recall, seeing as I blacked out shortly after.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I awoke what seemed like seconds later in unimaginable heat. When I tried to stand, my feet slipped, which sent my face flying to the ground, resulting in an unpleasant mouthful of sand. I tried again- this time succeeding- and stood where I was, looking out at what must be hundreds of miles of sand. _Great. _I thought dully. _First Zanarkand's destroyed, then I'm stuck in the middle of a desert with no idea where I am or how the heck I got here. Some day I'm having… _

I can't exactly remember my thoughts after that… I think I wondered what was going to happen to Zanarkand- my home that I'd seen destroyed only moments ago.

Little did I know it had hardly been moments.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I'd decided to walk aimlessly at what I randomly guessed was north. Before long, I saw a small shape in the distance. Squinting through the afternoon glare, I identified it as some sort of vehicle. Excited to see life, I began screaming and waving my arms like I'd just caught a glimpse of some superstar- not that that's a good simile for me, seeing as I am, or rather was, a superstar.

I suppose they spotted me, seeing as the vehicle had increased speed and was coming right towards me. I felt a surge of relief as a girl jumped out. She had an orange shirt that was a bit too small for her, plus some _short _green shorts and two long, blue tassels flowing from her shoulders.

"Fryd yna oui?" She asked suspiciously. _What are you?_ She was probably glaring at me through squinted eyes, though I couldn't tell because she wore thick goggles- appropriate for desert traveling.

"Um… s-sorry?" I stammered. Realization struck her face and she cleared her throat before answering.

"What are you?" She inquired, pulling off her goggles to let them hang from her neck.

"Ah... I'm…" I didn't quite understand her question. "a… human…?"

"I can see that, stupid." She rolled her eyes. "But _what _are you? You're definitely not Al Bhed."

"Al Bhed?" I echoed. She rolled her eyes again.

"You're hopeless." She sighed. "Where are you from, anyway?"

"Zanarkand." I replied proudly. "Star of the A Block Abes!"

She looked at me like I had five heads. "What?" I asked. She just continued to gawp at me.

"Ra drehgc ra'c vnus Zanarkand? Drec kio'c hidc... Fuhtan ev ra'c paah hayn Sin... Syopa ra'c celg..." She mumbled to herself after a moment. _He thinks he's from Zanarkand? This guy's nuts... Wonder if he's been near Sin... Maybe he's sick... ... _She looked back at me. "Were you… near Sin recently?" She asked suspiciously.

_Sin? _I thought, before I remembered what Auron- the insane man- had said.

"_We called it Sin…"_

I wondered about what he had said. How did he know what that blob was called? And who was "we"?

Standing there then, I realized I was wrong about Auron. He wasn't insane (I had though this for years). He just knew something weird. Something I didn't…

I was so lost in my thoughts that I had forgotten the girl had asked me a question, and was now looking at me impatiently.

"Uh… yeah…" I finally replied. A look of sympathy crossed over her face. "What?"

"Here." She tossed me a pair of the thick goggles. "I'll take you to Home." She announced, replacing her own. "Kipple can help you. You'll be fine!"

"Better?" I said curiously, inspecting the goggles. "What do you mean, 'better'?"

"Well, you were near Sin. It probably warped your memory." I gaped at her. "Don't worry, you'll be better in no time!" She assured me with a grin.

I finally put the goggles on. They turned the tan world brown and gave everything a slight blur.

After a moment's hesitation, I followed her into the vehicle. It was like a snowmobile, only… it was in a desert.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

How she managed to drive that thing I'll never know. There was sand flying in my face so fast it hurt. I blocked out my sight of the desert, too. I figured she must have memorized the route, seeing as there was no way she could see through that.

After a while we slowed and I was able to see my surroundings again, only now there was actually something worth seeing.

Nestled in between two sand dunes was an immense tower. Six hallways branched off of it, each one ending in its own, smaller tower.

"What is_ that?_" I gasped, yanking my goggles off. The girl grinned.

"Home." She replied, jumping out onto the sand. She began to run towards it, but stopped after a few steps and turned to me. Her face- which had been cheerful since our hostile meeting- was grim. "Just one thing," She warned. "You can't tell _anyone_ about this place." She sounded utterly serious. "You know people don't like us Al Bhed." I told her I wouldn't, though I wasn't really sure what an "Al Bhed" was. I figured it was the civilization- or, rather, the people in it.

She brightened again. "By the way, I'm Rikku!"

I was relieved that she trusted me at least enough to tell me that. "Tidus." I replied with a smile.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Despite the rough appearance from the outside, Home was actually a very pleasant place. It reminded me a bit of Zanarkand, what with all the automatic doors.

One of the first things I learned about Home was discouraging.

There were few people who understood me. I heard some "Rikku, fru'c drec?" where Rikku replied "Y vneaht uv Brother'c." _Rikku, who's this?/// A friend of Brother's._

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I stayed at home for a long time. I would just leave it at that, but there were a few interesting things…

First of all, Rikku decided I needed to look like an Al Bhed. She came up to the room I had been given and tried her very hardest to get me to let her cut my spiky blonde hair…

"Come _on_, Tidus." She whined. "People are getting suspicious! You have to look like an Al Bhed if you want to stay here!"

"Fine." I grumbled. "Give me some new clothes. But _no way_ are you touching my hair!" _Not with scissors in your hands, anyway… _I said inwardly.

She never did get to cut my hair, though I got some surprisingly comfortable Al Bhed attire.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The whole time I was at Home I had a dreadful feeling that life wasn't always going to be this easy. Something inside me told me there would be a hero. To tell the truth, I was hoping it would be me. I always liked fame.

But I kept thinking about Rikku. My little Al Bhed friend seemed bold and brave. Maybe she would be the heroine.

But, hey, I might have been wrong. Maybe I just thought life was getting dull. Perhaps I wanted some excitement.

Either way, I had no idea what was in store for me next.


	2. Sand Monkeys

I'm sorry this is so short seeing how much freaking time I spent on it. I just really want to get on with the actual story. I want to start working on chapter 3, so I have to get through with this first. I have to say, this is kind of a junk chapter… I really know what I'm gonna' be working with from here on out, so just hang on, alright?

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I later found that the desert had the _weirdest _creatures. I met gillians, grucens, senstens, jocos, rassils, lodins, gleetens, roblets, and desert chocobos. Each one was just as freaky as the last.

Rikku would lead me- on foot- through the scorching dunes to where each one lived. I had never had much contact with nature in Zanarkand, and I found I liked these little outings. Plus the animals brought out a quiet side of Rikku I'd never seen before.

She would sit there with one on her lap, gently explaining how it lived. When I asked her what was so amazing about them, she would just smile and tell me patiently, "They have the life all of us Al Bhed want. They get along with each other, just going about living, while we struggle to protect Yevonites who want us all dead."

Rikku mentioned "Yevonites" a lot. I supposed they were just people like me- not Al Bhed. I wondered why we needed protection.

I was curious as to what the rest of the world might look like. After all, I'd never left Zanarkand before. After a few weeks, I decided to ask Rikku something that'd been bothering me.

I cautiously rapped on her door and waited. After a moment she admitted me, puzzled by the look on my face.

"What's up?" She sounded worried, letting me in. I took a deep breath before I answered her.

"Remember…" I began. "When you… found me?" Was there a reason this was so hard to say? "Why… did you think I was…" There was a long pause before I finished "Sick?" She looked almost horrified.

"I thought Kipple healed you!" She fretted. "Do you _still_ think you're from Zanarkand?" She looked a bit crazed.

"I _am_ from Zanarkand!" I assured her. "What's so weird about that?" She gaped at me. "Tell me!" I demanded. "Why-"

"There is no Zanarkand anymore." She whispered, staring at me. "Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago."

I stumbled a bit. "W-what?" I gasped. "What do you mean… a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand!" I was starting to think Rikku was insane, too. I seem to run into a lot of people like that. I _lived_ in Zanarkand. So either I'd been totally nuts for the past 17 years and Rikku was telling the truth, or she was lying to me. Which, face it, she wouldn't do, but I couldn't get myself to believe her.

"Sin's toxins are probably just messing with your mind." She gave me a sympathetic pat on the back and left the room, leaving me confused and alone.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Rikku found me staring blankly at the endless sand dunes the next morning. She tapped me on the shoulder. When I didn't respond, she tugged on my hair- well, _yanked_.

"You play blitzball, right?" She asked after she pulled my head backwards. Somehow I managed to nod. She released me and led me back to Home.

Boy, was I glad to see that blitz sphere. I _hated_ not being in water, which was the only element I felt comfortable in. Dry desert sand isn't exactly my thing. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" I demanded as we made our way to the Al Bhed's blitz team. Rikku just shrugged.

"Rao, kioc, drec ec Tidus. Ra'c y pmedw bmyoan. Oui haat y haf vunfynt, nekrd? Ra lmyesc ra'c naymmo kuut." Rikku explained, nodding at me._ Hey, guys, this is Tidus. He's a blitz player. You need a new forward, right? He claims he's really good. _

The others narrowed their eyes. "Rikku, ra ec hud uha uv ic." One of them snarled. _Rikku, he is not one of us. _

Rikku let out an exasperated sigh. "Tu oui fyhd du kad ouin piddc gelgat po dra Aurochs ykyeh?" I have to say, I was completely lost. _Do you want to get your butts kicked by the Aurochs again? _They all seemed to consider whatever she had said.

"Fa'mm drehg ypuid ed." The largest said grumpily. _We'll think about it._


	3. Vanished

Alright, I got chapter 3 done as fast as I could!! Listenin' to Bon Jovi the whole time really sped it up XD. I'm gonna' basically abandon the FFX storyline here, sorry if that disappoints anyone. I mean, I'll keep all the summoners and sin and Yevonites stuff, but not Yuna's pilgrimage. I will be mentioning Yuna soon, though. (For an interesting note, the guy introduced in this chapter is named 'Goma', which, if translated to English, means 'Kyle'.) And I'm really, really, really sorry about the first sentence of this chapter, but it was necessary for the story to happen. I love Rikku, she's the best. I promise she'll be back… someday… Is this a Tikku? You'll just have to wait and find out… (btw, I know I spelled "Mi'hen" wrong, I'm not sure how to XD)

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

Rikku was gone. Where? I have absolutely no idea. Did any of the Al Bhed know? How should I know? I can't understand them. All I know is "Hey, what's up?" Not that I can understand their responses.

Thought one of the guys on the blitz team, Goma, actually understood me.

The second I saw him after I found out about Rikku's disappearance, I started pounding him with questions.

"Where's Rikku?" I demanded. He slowly shook his head.

"We don't know." He replied honestly. "She was going to go with Brother and some of the others on a salvage mission this morning. They went to go get her and she was gone." He sighed. "Cid's really mad." He added.

"Cid?" I gotta' say, I was pretty shocked. "Your leader? Why should he care so much about Rikku?" Now he looked shocked.

"I thought you guys were close!" He scoffed. "She never told you he's her father?" I blinked in surprise. Goma almost laughed. Almost.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Life was really, really, _really_ boring without Rikku. No one was around to translate for me either, so I just replied with nods, smiles, or sympathetic glances depending on people's body language. Goma was the only one I'd found so far who understood me, and the blitz team hadn't looked at my skills yet, though Goma told me to come to the sphere the following Wednesday. Until then, I just sort of cooped myself up in the tiny room they were letting me stay in.

I had never been so impatient for. Even when I was waiting to see if I'd made the Abes. Every day inched by. I tried to sleep through most of them, but all of the noise from the machina made it almost impossible. I just lay there thinking. I thought about everything. Zanarkand. Auron. Sin. Home. Rikku. Especially Rikku. Where was she? Would I ever see her again? Was she even alive?

I left for the sphere pool on Wednesday morning feeling more depressed than excited. Goma was the only one who looked glad to see me. They let me play for the practice, though, just to see how I was.

By the end, almost all of them were treating me like a god. Goma caught up with me just as I was leaving.

"Dude, you're _awesome_!" He said in awe. It took all of my self-control not to grin. "Anyway, you need to learn Al Bhed." It sounded like an order to me. "It's really hard if you haven't grown up with it, but you should catch on. Come see me at six each night." I opened my mouth to reply, but he pushed on determinedly. "And, _man_, do something about your hair!"

I wanted so say "Rikku already tried." But as soon as I thought about her my throat closed up, so I just shook my head.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I started thinking about Zanarkand a lot. Rikku had kept me busy so I wouldn't be homesick. But now she was gone, too. I felt like my life was falling apart piece by piece. And not only has I lost my home and my best friend, but my new blitzball team sucked. They _really_ needed me. The only good thing about that was they were always having me come to the sphere pool to teach them some new shots and different moves.

My lessons with Goma were going fairly well. I could make some broken conversation with him in Al Bhed, but I wasn't anywhere near ready to face the rest of Home with my terrible vocabulary. We were pretty good friends by the end of our third lesson, which soothed my hurt, if only a tiny bit.

As I sat in Goma's room for the twelfth time, he strayed from teaching me his language.

"I take it you've never met Yuna before, have you?" He inquired suddenly.

"N-no." I stammered. "Who…?"

"She's Rikku's cousin." He explained. I flinched inwardly at the mention of my cheerful friend. "They haven't seen each other in about ten years, but they were pretty close when they were younger. She's going to be at Operation Mi'hen" He told me, referring to the Al Bhed's crazy mission to beat Sin with their ancient machina. I just have to say: those things were big old pieces of crap. "Cid wants you to go and meet her." I thought I would fall backwards out of my chair. "He knows you were close to Rikku. Plus he's never met her, so he doesn't know if she's hostile towards Al Bhed. I don't see why she would be." He snorted "Her mother was one."

Why the heck did Cid trust me? I'd never even met him…


	4. The High Summoner's Daughter

**Wow, I'm getting these done really quickly ^-^ I had writer's block for a while there, but I'm back at full speed now ******** Just a warning, though, I might not post a chapter a day because they're really short and I'm trying to make them longer. Alrighty, it's the moment you've either been waiting for or dreading!!! Tidus meets Yuna!!!! How will it go?? Well, you'll have to read and find out!!!**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

Turned out Cid really did want me to meet Yuna. I have to admit I had my doubts for a while. But, man, those Al Bhed ships are _not _the luxury I had in Zanarkand. They were basically all metal. For a while I thought they might have salvaged them, too, but then I realized salvaging kind of requires a ship in the first place.

No matter where they got the ships, they were terrible. And there was hardly any room for passengers with all the huge machina. I had nothing better to do than sit on the deck and wonder what Yuna might be like. Goma had told me a little about how she was a summoner like her father, but nothing about what she was like. I hoped and dreaded that she might be like Rikku. I missed my gleeful little friend, and wondered what I would do if I found someone like her. Would I feel more whole? Or would it just make the gap worse?

Either way, I was afraid to find out.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Mushroom Rock. I have absolutely no idea why they called it that. It looked nothing like a hard fungus.

I helped the Al Bhed set up all of their machina for a few days. I thought their eyes were gonna' fall out of their sockets when they saw how much I knew about machines. We're talking about a kid who failed his sophomore Tech Ed. course in high school.

After about four days, this weird guy with blue hair found me.

"I am Lord Seymour." He drawled. I looked at him warily. He looked like a hair dresser had had a seizure while they styled his blue mop.

"Tidus." I replied warily. Who the heck was this guy?

"Cid wishes me to escort you to Lady Yuna." I tried not to shiver. He was _creepy_. I let him take me to Yuna anyway.

She was definitely _not_ like Rikku. I could tell before she even looked at me.

"Lady Yuna." Seymour called when we were about ten feet away from her. "Here is the one Cid spoke of." She nodded in thanks, silently dismissing him.

"Hello." She said formally. Completely _not _Rikku-like. These two were related?! The only trait they shared was their eyes… er, well… eye. Alright, that was pretty freaky. This chick had different colored eyes. One was blue (Like mine). The other was green, but it didn't have the cool green swirls that Rikku's did. Well, they were both short. Other than that, they couldn't be much different as far as I could see. "I am the summoner Yuna. You are Tidus, are you not?" I nodded slowly. "You were close to my cousin, Rikku?" I bobbed my head again. The way she mentioned Rikku like she was some lost toy made my blood boil. Then she smiled.

_Smiled. _

Why was she smiling?! This was no time to be smiling! I thought they were friends! Didn't she care about Rikku?! "Her disappearance is shocking." She admitted. "And I wish I could help her…" Why was she still smiling?! "But I must continue. I must defeat Sin." I blinked in surprise. How could she defeat Sin? That giant blob that destroyed Zanarkand? How could this teenage girl stop that thing?

She must have seen the look on my face. "You… aren't from Spira, are you?" She seemed curious rather than hostile.

"Um… Spira?" I asked dumbly. She motioned to the landscape around us. I figured she enjoyed using as little words as possible, but I got her message. "So, um…" I began awkwardly. "Why did… Why did Cid want me to talk to you?" She sighed, her smile starting to fade a little. Just a little.

"Cid…" She started. "Only likes Al Bhed. He was really mad at my mother- his sister- when she married my father, who's a Yevonite. I think…" She paused "I think he was hoping I would ask you to be my guardian."

Alright, I wanted some answers. People just kept assuming I knew all this stuff, which I didn't. "What the heck is a Yevonite?" I demanded. "I know they're not Al Bhed, but what the hell are they?!"

"Yevonites are people who obey the teachings of Yevon. Yevon is a spirit who guides the paths of those faithful to him." She said without hesitation, like she had this memorized. Heck, she probably did. "Most Yevonites dislike Al Bhed because they use machina. Yevon tells us that machina is bad. Sin was created to stop wars caused by machina. Though I cannot say that I have harsh feelings for the Al Bhed, my guardian Wakka does." She sighed. "It is good that he is faithful to Yevon, but we shouldn't blame the Al Bhed for Sin." At least she was fair. I hated racist freaks. "He just-" She broke off as a guy with a strange tuft of red hair approached. "That's him." She whispered.

"This a friend of you-" He began in a heavy island accent as he approached. Then he noticed my attire and narrowed his eyes. "Why are you talkin' to a heathen, Yuna?" He asked, still glaring at me. I felt a cold fury rise in me. "Don't mingle with the likes of _him_." He spat. What was this guy's problem?! _It is good that he is faithful to Yevon… _Yuna's recent words rang through my head. Good?! If this is how this Yevon freak made his "Yevonites" act, I didn't see why that should be a good thing.

"He's not an Al Bhed, Wakka." Yuna explained gently. I didn't understand her. I would have snarled that at him if I were her. "He's just staying with them."

"So?" Wakka snorted. "That's still bad, ya? The Al Bhed are killing Spira! If they keep using machina, Sin'll never be gone!! They need to stop being so boneheaded and think about the rest of Spira, ya?"

Alright, that made me really mad. "You don't even know the Al Bhed!" I hollered, getting right up in his face. "Maybe you're doing it! Maybe people like you are corrupting this place with your stupid Yevon!" Yuna looked shocked. "The Al Bhed are people, too! Look at this!" I motioned to the preparations for the operation. "They're trying to _stop _Sin! And you're trying to stop _them_!! How many of you are willing to risk your life to try to kill this thing?!" As soon as I said that, something changed. Yuna was looking at her feet, and Wakka was looking at her. I remembered Yuna saying she needed to defeat Sin. So I guessed that meant she was willing to risk her life. "Alright, so maybe _some _of you are." I continued, acknowledging Yuna. "But that doesn't change _you_. So far Yuna's the only one of you Yevonites I've seen who's been doing anything to try to stop Sin" Alright, that was true, but I'd only met two- maybe three- Yevonites. But, hey, they didn't know that.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**I managed to make this one a bit longer. I'm trying, people, I'm trying. I'm sorry that I slaughtered Tidus and Wakka's buddy-buddy relationship like that, I just needed more ways to show that Tidus cares about the Al Bhed. Also, I'm sorry about the sudden ending. I'm not sure what was up with that, I just couldn't keep going. I'm bringing in a new character next chapter who'll play a REALLY big role in the plot, so review and maybe I'll go a little faster!!!**


	5. The Other Rikku

**I'm surprised I got this done so quickly!! It didn't come out exactly how I planned it, but I still like it. (Another interesting note: all of my Al Bhed Names translate into a name) Thanks for all the reviews, they really mean a lot to me. I really put some effort into this chapter, seeing as it's the first time you see this character. And badkidoh, I haven't forgotten about Auron. Alright, alright, I'm done babbling now.**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

You have no idea how glad I was to finally escape from that Wakka lunatic. The second I heard one of the Al Bhed calling my name, I was out of there (but not before I noticed the dirty look Wakka gave me).

"Tu oui ghuf frana du ruug drec ib?" An Al Bhed who I think was named Puppo was motioning frantically at a huge piece of machina. _Do you know where to hook this up? _After a moment of deciphering what he had said, I nodded.

"Dinh machina ynuiht." I ordered, hoping I said it correctly. _Turn machina around. _He did so, and I instructed him on how to power and work the dinosaur.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

To keep things short, the operation was a complete failure. Unless you _want _to hear the details of how sin disintegrated about a hundred crusaders and blew up some Al Bhed with their own machina and then left. Yeah, I didn't think so.

Wakka was probably laughing at the failure. I'd bet anything. Well, almost anything.

Then, while I was lying half-dead on the sand surrounded by the bodies of my fellow Al Bhed, guess who showed up? No, not Rikku (too bad). Not Yuna. For damn sure not Wakka.

_Auron._

What was _he _doing there? Did Sin take him there, too? Whatever his deal was, he looked like he hadn't changed one bit.

"You're still here." He said in that weird voice of his. _Well of course I'm still here, smart one. I think I would notice if I wasn't. _"Many stories ended here today." He continued. "But… Yours goes on, I see." Ummmm… stories? "Come with me." He ordered. "There is something you need to hear." Oh, great, he was probably trying to tell me about Sin and how it could never be defeated.

I managed to stumble behind him until we found a rock overhang. The only other inhabitants were crusader's bodies.

I guess Auron wanted to cut to the chase, because the first thing he said to me was "Sin is Jecht."

Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah, _whoah_. Hold up for a second. _Jecht? _Alright, go back to that first thing I said about Auron way back when. He's insane. Nuts. Psycho. How would my old man be Sin? If Auron hadn't noticed, he's _dead. _He's been dead for ten years! And even though eh was heartless and uncaring, I really don't think he'd kill all of those people for fun.

"Sin _is _Jecht." He went on. For one terrifying second I thought he really had read my mind, but then I realized he'd been talking the whole time. "He came here for you." **[Sorry I used the original dialogue, continue] **

"What, so he killed all those people just for a chance to see _me?_" Gee, wasn't I special.

"That is what Sin does." I rolled my eyes. Where the heck did he get this crazy theory, anyway?

"Yeah, so, Auron, I've got to get back to the Al Bhed." I lied. There weren't that many left, and I doubted they needed any help from me. But I needed to get away from whacko man.

To my surprise, he let me go. "I have told you what you need to know." He said dismissively.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I was helping the remaining Al Bhed load their remaining machina back onto that horrible ship when I noticed something. A familiar something.

There was a small blonde girl on her hands and knees in the shallows of the water coughing her lungs out.

Completely forgetting about everything else, I splashed over to her, kneeling down so I was at her level.

_Rikku! _

It was her! It was really her! There was no doubt about it.

"Rikk-" I began, but at that moment she looked up, looking frightened. I reached out, but she shied away from my touch. There were bruises all over her face and arms and there was a long, bloody gash along her side. My eyes widened. "Rikku, what happened to you?" I whispered. She shook her head quickly but remained silent. That was when I knew something was wrong- well, other than the fact that she looked like she'd been run over by one of those snowmobile things. "What's up?" I asked gently. She still wouldn't let me touch her. In fact, she was still shrinking away from me. "What's wrong? It's me, Tidus." Now I was really worried. She looked absolutely terrified of me.

"I…" She croaked. "I'm not…" She winced as the movement in her lips pulled on a long scratch along her cheek. "I'm not Rikku."

Not Rikku? How could she not be Rikku? Every single thing about her looked identical! All the way down to the sweet swirls in her green eyes. "Who are you, then?" I didn't even mean to say it.

"I-" She stopped to cough some more. "I'm… I-I'm Rikki."

Rikki? Why would there be someone who was identical to Rikku with one letter different in her name? Was it just a coincidence? Did Rikku have an identical twin she never told me about? It was then that I noticed an insignificant yet different detail: Rikki had green tassels. Hm. I had to admit they went better with her eyes than the blue. "Do you… know Rikku?" I decided to take a stab in the dark.

"K-kind of." She replied. "I met her… a-at the lab a f-few days ago. They were mad 'cause she wasn't c-cooperating." Well that was an interesting little piece of 411.

"Lab? What lab?" I tried to be curious but had difficulty disguising the demanding tone in my voice. She just shook her head frantically as if to clear it.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I took a _long _time to convince Rikki to come to Home with us. She tried to tell us She could manage on her own and didn't need to bother us, but we all knew she was lying. The girl was half dead for crying out loud. The only thing she was willing to tell me about her injuries was that "they" didn't need her anymore and left her for Sin.

And she refused to tell me anything else about Rikku. Believe me when I tell you I was _not _happy about that. If I didn't find Rikku soon I thought I would explode. Never a good thing.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**I couldn't think of anywhere to go from there so I cut it a little shorter than I would have liked. My chapter ending are so sudden. Sorry. I'm sure some of you are happy that things didn't go too well with Tidus and Yuna. Well, I guess I've left you guys hanging long enough. I'll tell you: This is a Tikku fanfic. There. Now don't keep nagging me!! But Rikki will be here for basically the whole story, and I've already started the chapter where Rikku comes back (no, it's not the next one, it's WAY off, hehe I'm giving too much away so I'm gonna shut up now).**


	6. Lab? What Lab?

**I'm sorry this took so long. : ( I already know the plot of the story but I couldn't think of anything for this chapter. Hang with me people, I'm getting there. Also, I have some other stuff I'm working on. It was making me sad that I was spending all of my time on this one fanfic. It put all my other stories on hold & I barely got my schoolwork done and I really want to get back into AMV making. Don't get me wrong though, people. I am definitely NOT stopping this fanfic. Not for ANYTHING. I'm just saying it might start getting a little slower. I'm really really sorry but I want to spend time on things other than my writing. I'm getting really stressed trying to get these posted. It's vacation, I shouldn't be stressed. I'm not stopping, though. I'm going to drill that into your brain. I AM NOT STOPPING THIS FANFICTION. I AM NOT STOPPING THIS FANFICTION. I AM NOT STOPPING THIS FANFICTION. This chapter is SUPPOSED to be really short. It's just to show you some of Tidus' thoughts and a bit of Rikki's paranoid personality. Alright, now you can read what you came for.**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

Rikki and Rikku were nothing alike. I started to think maybe they weren't related. I wasn't sure how they couldn't be, but she was like a Rikku from a parallel universe.

We didn't tell the Al Bhed she wasn't Rikku. Especially not Brother. I told them she's had a traumatizing experience to make up for her minimal amount of speech. They all seemed satisfied with this. They all looked so happy to have her back. I didn't. Because she _wasn't _back. I was determined to find out more about this lab from Rikki. So I asked her one evening as she sat silently on Rikku's bed like she always did.

"It's…" She paused reluctantly. "It's u-under the sand." She started shaking. "B-but you can't get to it f-from here."

"Here?" I demanded. "As in the desert? What you mean?" She buried her face in her hands, shaking violently. "Is Rikku there?" I needed to know so badly. But she refused to speak. "Is she there?" I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Tell me!" I yelled. She nodded frantically but didn't say another word for the rest of the night.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

So Rikku was in a lab… I thought Spira was anti-electricity. And they didn't seem to know much about things like science. So where would a lab come from? And who would run it? Why did they want Rikku? Why didn't they need Rikki anymore? What did Rikki mean when she said you couldn't get to it from Bikanel?

All these questions kept nagging at my thoughts for a month. Rikki knew the answers to them all. I knew she did. But anytime I mentioned that lab she freaked and started shaking like there was an earthquake.

I couldn't get anything out of her. I thought I would explode sooner of later. I hoped sooner. I didn't know how much longer I could stand that frustration. If I had to go find Rikku myself, I needed to know how to get to her.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**I'm really sorry for the worst chapter in the history of the world. It's really short and not very detailed… But I didn't know where to go from there… I know where the next chapter'll pick up, though, and I won't spend time doing freaky Victory Fanfare videos like last time… You probably didn't know about that… hehe… **


	7. Get Me Outa' Here!

**I actually did get this done really quickly, I just didn't start it for about a day. I wrote a REALLY random story about a piece of tinfoil killing Seymour (yes, I posted it if you're interested). And I wasn't home for almost 24 hours. So it wasn't really my fault. Alright maybe it was. Anyway, now this story's really getting somewhere! Yay! We're off to the rest of Spira! Woot! READ.**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

There was only one thing I managed to get out of Rikki after two months of interrogating her. Just one.

The entrance to this lab was in Zanarkand.

I was really confused by that. Rikku had told me that Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin a thousand years ago. Didn't that mean it no longer existed? But, of course, Rikki wouldn't tell me anything else.

The only good thing that came out of that long period of time was that I finally got Al Bhed down. I could talk fluently to the other Al Bhed. It was about time, too.

Too bad that wasn't going to do me too much good with my plan of action I'd devised. Plan? You ask. What plan? My plan. My plan to go get Rikku.

All of my friends back in Zanarkand always told me I was reckless. They said I should think things through more. But just then I didn't need to think it through. All I needed to know was that Rikku was gone. She was gone and I needed her back. I didn't really care all that much about Rikki anymore. She wasn't going to tell me anything else. I didn't know what the deal was with Zanarkand. All I knew was that I had to get to that lab. I had to.

And I was going to.

I managed to snatch a map of Spira from someone's room (I honestly have no idea whose). I wasn't thrilled by the news that I had no choice but to stow away on a salvage ship to get to the mainland of Spira. But it was my only choice. Even being a blitzer I couldn't swim that far.

It looked like the fastest route was to cut straight through the mainland. But believe me, that didn't look fast. _Especially _if I had to get there on foot.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I didn't start wondering if I had such a great plan until I was already hiding in a storage room on one of the Al Bhed's salvage ships. I knew for a fact that that particular vessel was headed for Luca port. My map showed me it was possible to get to Zanarkand from there.

Remember what I said way back when about heroes and heroines? I guess I was half right. I kind of felt like a hero. But I bet Rikku didn't. I bet Rikku was feeling more like a damsel in distress.

Anyway, after I'd managed to get off of the ship without being noticed (which was actually a simple endeavor), I realized I had a problem.

I needed new clothes. No matter how much I loved Al Bhed attire, it caused me to receive some nasty glances from Yevonites. You have no idea how long it took me to find a place that actually sold clothes. Spira was like a huge medieval town. They just made everything themselves.

But eventually I did find some clothes from a nasty lady. She almost refused to take the gil I'd snatched from the Al Bhed (Hey, I grew up in a city with a drunkard for a father, of course I'd turn out to be a great pickpocket.).

Just as I finally found the road out of Luca, I noticed something. Someone.

Rikki.

She was following me, about fifteen or twenty feet behind. I didn't know how long she'd been there, but she was the last thing I needed just then. When she saw that I'd noticed her, she almost skipped over. She looked extremely cheerful. It was really weird.

"You headed for Zanarkand?" I nodded, dumbfounded by the sudden change in her personality.

"Y-you okay?" I asked warily. She just grinned.

"I'm fine." She assured me. "The Al Bhed just make me nervous." She admitted. "But you're not Al Bhed. I don't know what you are. But you're nice." I thought she would have hated me. Seeing how much I shook her and yelled at her. "And I _know _you won't be mad about me coming with you." She smiled innocently. I just sighed. I didn't know if I was mad or not. I guess it _was _kind of stupid to try to find Rikku on my own when I had no idea what I might come across in Spira. But I knew Rikki wasn't going to just leave.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked nervously. She shook her head. "Alright, then. Let's get going." If she was coming, she was coming, and there wasn't much I could do about it.

I started for the grassy road in front of me, but Rikki didn't follow. "What?" I turned back to her.

"There're fiends from here on out." She told me.

"So? You scared?" If she was, I was going without her. But she shook her head.

"It would be really stupid to go without a weapon." She pointed out. "Don't you think you should get one somewhere? You stole some gil from the Al Bhed, didn't you?" What was she, a stalker?! "There was some sketchy merchant back there selling all sorts of stuff." She nodded back towards the city.

I was dying to go find Rikku, but she had a point. I reluctantly followed her to this "sketchy merchant". He gave me a weird looking red sword-thingy for a couple of gil. Apparently Rikki already had some kind of clawed glove thing.

Then we were finally off to the rest of Spira.

Off to possible danger. And to the unknown. Definitely to the unknown.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**I tried my best to make this one a bit longer. It's not the best, but I'm finally getting somewhere!! My brain is now snapped back into writing mode. So I MIGHT post another chapter today. Maybe. We'll just have to see. I'm also starting a fanfic with my friend Liz. It's a crossover between Maximum Ride, High School Musical (lol), Transformers, Final Fantasy X and X-2, and Pirates of the Caribbean with the penname AmizLimy. It should be interesting… But, anyway, the next chapter (of this) should be up pretty soon. Just cause I'm in a good mood today.**


	8. Double

**I'm expecting this story to be AT LEAST 19 chapters. It depends on how I write it and what little twists I throw in. There will probably be more, that's just a rough estimate. And I'm still not sure how to spell Mi'hen. And intellectually perplexed is my new favorite phrase :p**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

Why didn't the rest of Spira have snowmobile thingies like the Al Bhed? It would make their lives so much easier.

I don't think I'd ever walked so far as I did down the Mi'hen highroad. Every time we thought we'd reached the end it turned and kept going.

We'd had to use those weapons a _lot. _I had to hand it to Rikki that she'd saved our butts. Fiends were everywhere.

I'd only used a sword once before. Back in Zanarkand, when Auron and I were battling our way towards Sin. And I have to say, I didn't suck too badly.

Anyway, we reached the end of that horrible road. And guess where the end of the road was? You guessed it! Mushroom Rock!

Rikki shivered and clutched my arm when she saw the still visible aftermath of the operation. I glanced down at her. She was looking like the freaked out Rikki I'd come to know so well. Honestly, I'd liked the new Rikki a lot better.

Without warning, she ran towards the Djose Highroad (I'd basically memorized the map), dragging me with her by my arm.

Once we were away from the battlefield she was cheerful again.

I was never gonna' get that girl.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Djose Highroad was more fiend-infested than the Mi'hen, but not nearly as long. Rikki dragged me past some giant snake-things as fast as she could a few times. When I asked her why she did this, she just gaped at me and said "Do you _want _to turn into a statue?" I didn't get it but I figured those things were bad news.

When we reached the end of the highroad, there was a crossroads.

"Which way do we go?" I asked Rikki, pulling out my map. The pointed to the path going to the left.

"The other one goes to Djose temple." She explained. "We have no reason to go there, so we can just go straight to the Moonflow. But…" She looked around. "We should probably stop for tonight." I hadn't even realized the sun was gone. But we found a place nearby and fell asleep on the hard ground with nothing but our arms for pillows.

Thank God it was summer.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Rikki was really quiet while we walked along the path to the Moonflow.

"Tidus?" She finally said. I just looked at her. "You know how I said the Al Bhed freak me out?" She said quietly. I nodded. "Well, I know you like the Al Bhed, so please don't take that the wrong way." She sounded just like Rikku. "It's just that… I'd never met an Al Bhed before Operation Mi'hen." She paused for a moment, fingering one of her green tassels while she walked. "Well, other than Rikku." I sensed she was about to tell me something big, so I kept my mouth shut. "I'm sorry I never told you anything about the lab." She whispered, wringing the tassel in her fingers. "I just didn't like to think about it." Every word sounded forced. "Actually, I still don't like to think about it. But I think you have the right to know." I knew I should stop her, but I needed to find out more about this lab. "Well… I… I've lived in that lab my whole life." Well that was news. "And… I've always looked… just like Rikku…" It seemed extremely difficult for her to say this. "But… we're not related." She admitted. Wow, more big news. "I… well, I don't like to think of myself as one, but… I guess I'd be considered… a clone."

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**Yay! Rikki's secret! VVolf, I'm putting you on the spot by saying your little "That's just me" wasn't just you. :p I would give you a cookie but 1) I don't have one and 2) I have no idea how I would get it to you.**

**Anyway, I know, really sudden ending, but I like it better that way. Plus if I kept going I would put the whole journey into one chapter. Then the story would be a lot shorter. But, hey! I got two chapters up in one day! Yay! I'm on a roll ^-^**


	9. Fireflies, Pyreflies

**The last chapter was a little short but I'm being really generous today. THREE chapters in a day. Wow. I told you, my brain is in writing mode right now. Anyway, back to the story…**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

I froze. Rikki? A clone? But why? What? Why did they need Rikku? Surely they made a clone of her for a reason. It wasn't just their idea of fun, was it?

Man. I was confused. I didn't even know who "they" were.

Rikki eventually started dragging me again when I didn't walk a step for a few minutes. "Come on, Tedious." She grumbled. She'd started calling me that when I tried to leave Luca without a weapon. "I thought you wanted to find Rikku." She said exasperatedly.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

By the time we reached the Moonflow it was almost nightfall (We'd stopped to chat for a while. Basically I just told her about how I was from Zanarkand). For some reason Rikki seemed really excited about this.

"This place is SO pretty at night." She said in awe as we approached a giant dinosaur thing Rikki called a "shoopuf". It would supposedly get us to the other side of the Moonflow.

But my God she was right on when she said it was pretty. The moon was just starting to rise when we boarded the shoopuf. Rikki leaned over the edge of the… well, I'm not sure what it was. It was basically a fenced platform on top of the shoopuf. Anyway, she leaned over the railing and pointed to the water below. I joined her and watched speechless as clouds of little firefly thingies gathered around little purple flowers. I'm not really one to compliment things on their looks, but it was _beautiful_. The whole river seemed to glow.

It was the second best thing I'd seen since I'd arrived in Spira.

"What are those?" I whispered. Rikki smiled, still staring at the Moonflow.

"Pyreflies." She said softly.

Pyreflies, huh? I decided I liked them.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Well, to my delight there was more road to travel. Notice the obvious sarcasm there, people. After we spent the night on the other side of the Moonflow, we were off to the rest of Spira.

Rikki was finally starting to answer questions. She actually told me all about the Zanarkand we were headed to.

Turned out it was just ruins. That was really it.

Ruins. My Zanarkand. In ruins. I couldn't believe it. I _wouldn't _believe. Not unless I saw it with my own eyes. Have I ever mentioned how much I loved Zanarkand? Well, I loved it a lot. I loved Zanarkand and I loved the people in it and I loved blitzball and… well, basically I loved everything about it.

I couldn't bear to think of it in ruins.

In Zanarkand I was somebody. People knew my name. I was an idol. I mattered to people.

In Spira I was just another face in the crowd.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The road on the north bank of the Moonflow was no different from that of the south. Ugh. If we didn't get to Zanarkand sooner or later I was going to explode. As I've said before, that's never a good thing.

Oh, I don't think I've ever mentioned that Rikki's a thief. Rikku was-is- too. She just kind of goes up to her enemies and… well, it looks like she attacks them (and sometimes she does ((she mugs them))) but then when she comes back you can see her tucking some prize away in her pocket. It's actually really cool. I wish I could do it.

Anyway, I actually got really good at using a sword. I could do this really cool "spiral cut" thing. I actually got to put all my flashy blitz move to good use.

I was so glad Rikki had come along. If it weren't for her I probably would have drowned in the huge pool of my despair. Alright, that's a little _too _much figurative language. It sounds weird.

God I keep getting distracted. _Anyway, _I don't think I would have been able to keep going. Plus she saved my butt with the whole weapons thing.

I thought it was rough then. I had no idea what was in store for us in Guadosalam.

I'll just tell you this: trouble. Trouble in the form of hairgel.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**THINK I RAN OUT OF THINGS TO SAY????? Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. I guess my writing mode's come and gone. I'm sorry. I really didn't want this to end up as short as chapter 6. Then that 4****th**** to last paragraph… man, I don't know what was up with that… Give me a day or so and I'll write a good long chapter, alright?**


	10. I Hate Guado

**Thanks so much for the reviews ^-^ You guys have no idea how much they mean to me. I just have to say this: starry34 and VVolf, you guys made my day with those reviews on chapters 7, 8, & 9. Thanks ^-^ Anyway, this chapter's taken long enough. Read on!!**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

Guadosalam. Home of- you guessed it- the guado. What's a guado? I can't rightly say I know. But someone did.

Yes, I'm talking about Rikki. How did she know so much about Spira? She said she'd grown up in that lab, and I'd bet anything they weren't too worried about her education.

No matter where she learned it, she was a genius when it came to guado history.

Not that I cared all that much. I mean, I don't give a crap about some Jyscal guy doing something amazing. If it had something to do with Yevon then I was against it.

Guadosalam was a really small place but somehow I managed to get lost in it.

"Tidus." Rikki whined. "How could you get lost? We were in a freaking cave for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, a freaking cave with freaking pieces of freaking rock suspended on the freaking walls." I replied. The word 'freaking' was starting to sound a little weird. Rikki just rolled her eyes.

"Begone, heathen!" One of the guado suddenly bellowed at her. "Such filth must not walk in the home of Maester Jyscal!" I thought Rikki said that guy was dead. But at that moment, that was least of my concerns, seeing as Rikki had to keep a strong grip on my arms to keep me from knocking the guy out.

Filth! He called the Al Bhed filth! Who did he think he was?!

He was gonna' be dead soon. Now, I'm not usually a killer. Not even blood-thirsty. But I'd had it with Spira's prejudice against the Al Bhed.

Rikki saved that guy's life.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After my little outburst, Rikki tried to get me to leave that place. I would have gladly done so, except for one problem.

The guard at the exit wouldn't let us through. He said there was a huge storm on the Thunder Plains and it was too dangerous to cross them.

That was a really bad thing for him to say, seeing as I was already pissed as hell and stuffed with adrenaline from the last guado.

Too bad Rikki wasn't fast enough the second time around.

I don't know if he was dead or just unconscious. I can't really say I cared either.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

To leave out all of my screaming, swearing, and rude name-calling, this whole episode didn't go over too well with the guado. Unfortunately, they weren't gonna' let that one slide. One of them was ordered to fetch "Maester Seymour".

Why did that name sound familiar?

As soon as I saw him it was obvious.

It was that blue haired freak from Operation Mi'ihen! **[Thanks for the spelling, by the way. Continue] **

"Ah." He smiled evilly when he saw it was me. "We meet again." I decided I didn't like him. Or his smell. The overwhelming aroma of hairgel was making me nauseas. I was busy trying not to barf my guts up, so my brain didn't even acknowledge that hairgel-man was talking.

You know what? He didn't strike me as a Seymour. So I'm calling him Hairgel from here on out. If you don't like it then too bad.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Two outbursts." Hiargel shook his head with a sigh. He'd dragged us (well, technically his minions had) to his home, which was about the size of the rest of Guadosalam. "We must take serious action. You have inflicted dire injury upon a guado. Have you not pondered Yevon's consequence?" He drawled. I hated his voice. He sounded like he'd been dropped on his head by his mother one too many times.

"I don't care about Yevon." I snapped in response. He looked only mildly surprised at this.

"It is not necessary to do everything the Al Bhed say." He countered lamely. No way was he turning me into a Yevonite.

Never.

"Well, it looks to me like they've got the right idea here." I snarled. "They're trying to make life easier. Why do you Yevon freaks have to keep cutting that down?!"

"If machina is used then Sin will never be defeated." He said simply. The way he stayed calm was getting to me, but know way was I gonna' let him know it.

It took me a while to realize the whole thing was a waste of time. We were supposed to be headed for Zanarkand! Why were we sitting in this dude's house?!

I motioned to Rikki to run on my signal. She gave me a barely perceptible nod. As Hairgel dove into another lecture, I quickly snapped my wrist towards the door. Rikki and I shot out of our seats and out the door in a single movement.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**My writing style was a little different in this chapter, and I used "freaking" as lot. I've been reading too much Maximum Ride lately. Anyway, I had not idea how long this would be when I typed it up. It was about 6 pages when I wrote it in my illegible cursive. Anyway, I'm still going with this. Just very… very… slowly…**


	11. Nature Sucks

**Hehe, sorry guys, I got writer's block and didn't write for… what was it? 3 Weeks? Writer's block, school (HHUUGGEE S.S. project), and lots of complicated things with my personal life (which I do have, by the way). You can blame the VERY late chapter on those. I had no real plan for this chapter, so it's not that good. And at this point in the story Yuna and co have just left Bevelle and Seymour returned to Guadosalam as an unsent. Remember that Tidus and Rikki get to skip a lot of stuff 'cause they don't need to go to the temples and there's only two of them, so they're journey is a lot quicker. (My brother just screamed "Mr. Fuzzbucket, WHY?"… O_o…freak…)**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

Let's just say we were lucky the guado were really slow **(A/N I know they're actually really fast XD) **I mean, me and Rikki are pretty agile, but it wasn't like we could outrun a whole society.

Unless, that is, they're the guado. We didn't even have to sprint. If it weren't for the screaming guys behind us, I would have thought we were running for pleasure.

Except I'm not that stupid.

But, seriously, we got to the Thunder Plains with basically no trouble. The cowards didn't pursue us once we got there.

A large streak of lightning flashed through the sky. Rikki stared at it in amazed horror. "What was _that_?" She gasped. I chuckled.

"Never seen lightning before?" I teased. She shook her head. Her eyes were about the size of a small dinner plate.

"I never went outside until they" -She shuddered when she said "they"- "got rid of me." I stared at her. She'd never seen lightning? Or thunder? Not even _rain_?

Obviously not. She was staring at the sky and inspecting her arms where large raindrops were running down them.

While she was exploring the wonderful world of nature, lighting struck about seven feet from us, shaking the ground and making both of us jump about a foot in the air. "Let's just get out of here." I grabbed Rikki's arm and dragged her toward the nearest lightning tower.

"T-Tidus, I don't think I like lightning…" She whispered, clinging to my arm.

"Then let's just get through this place." I wasn't exactly fond of the place myself.

"H-how much farther?" She whimpered after we took about two steps. I sighed. This was likely to get really annoying really fast.

"A lot." I replied. "It would go a lot quicker if you let go of me and walked yourself." When she didn't move, I tried to pry her fingers off of my arm but the more I tried the harder she held on. I winced as her nails dug through my shirt. "Please." I practically begged. She shook her head frantically and started pulling me down the path.

Oh, boy. Walking. My favorite.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The halfway point was the best thing I had ever seen in my life. My arm was sore, my legs were tired, I had a headache from Rikki's whining, and I was soaked and freezing. Basically, I was having the time of my life (note the sarcasm, people).

Rikki dashed into the travel agency as fast as she could possibly go. Which, by the way, is pretty fast. I followed her a little more slowly.

Needless to say, we didn't continue for a while. To spare you the details, it was difficult to get Rikki out again.

The storm was a hundred times worse at that point.

This experience confirmed what I'd been pondering for a while:

Nature sucks. Especially when you have an ADHD fifteen-year-old not-so-dumb blonde clutching your arm. Especially if she decides she hates thunder and lightning. And especially you're in the middle of a storm that never stops for anything.

So, for me, nature sucks pretty bad.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**Well, it was kinda short, but it was something. And I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE I'll post another chapter before next Saturday. I PROMISE. I AM STILL ALIVE!!!!!! YAY!!!!! Anyway, I wanted to make Rikki a lot like Rikku, so I gave her the deathly fear of thunder storms. I couldn't just have her already hate them because Rikku didn't like them because of a childhood accident. Honestly, if you were fifteen and you'd never seen a giant bolt of electricity fall out of the sky, wouldn't you be a little freaked out? And the whole "nature sucks" thing is major irony for me XD I'm a nature freak. I love nature. But, considering their situation, I would probably think nature sucked pretty bad at that point, too.**


	12. Woods From Hell

**Honest to God, I meant to write this on Saturday. But then I had a softball game and then my friend wanted me to go to the movies with her and then she wanted me to go over to her house and then she wanted me to go swimming with her and her neighbor. I started this as soon as I got back. Then sunday I was out all day. Let's see, the start time for this chapter is... 9:59 PM (EST) on Saturday June 6th. The end time... 7:41 PM (EST) on Sunday June 7th. And I put a little Tikku in this... just a little (even though it made Tidus kind of OC)... I promise there'll be a bunch towards the end. This chapter was really on the spot and it wasn't planned at all, so it's really not that good. It's mostly a filler... I hate writing with a deadline, so no more promises on when the next chapter is...**

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

I take back what I said earlier about the travel agency being the best thing I'd ever seen. The best thing was by far was emerging into the Macalania Woods.

It was only once we were farther into the woods that we returned to hell.

The place was a huge freaking MAZE!!! Anytime we got in a battle with a fiend we would accidentally turn around and start backtracking **(Happens to me all the time, I hate that place XD) **Even when we were going forward, the path just twisted and turned forever.

Plus Rikki decided she wanted to be depressed.

"Tidus, can't we just... stop?' She suggested for the hundredth time. She'd changed suddenly. She'd been all jumpy since we'd started out and now she was acting like she did at Home.

What was wrong with her?! Why did she want to stop? I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew that I had to find Rikku. It was killing me to be away from her before.

I don't think I've ever mentioned how badly I needed **(that's a fun word to type XD)** to find Rikku... It was like... I'd hardly known her for two months but I felt like I'd known her forever... To just lose her like that... It was the worst...

Out of my embarrassing confessions and back to the real world now, people.

I would need about twenty hands to count on my fingers how many times we got lost. It was just a giant, shining blue fortress of doom.

I also don't think I've ever explained my horrendous sense of direction. Another reason I was so glad Rikki had tagged along. She knew her way around. How? I have no idea.

We ended up at the entrance at least eight times. After about five hours we just decided to spend the night in a little clearing we found.

Stupid us had no idea that was right next to the exit...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

We trekked out again in the morning. It actually didn't take us too long to get to the exit.

Except it wasn't the exit we wanted. _This _exit took us to some city. When I asked a passerby where we were, he told us "Bevelle". It really didn't take too long to realize that this was a dead end and we had to go back to the woods from hell.

Where we got lost again. Typical.

"Uh, Rikki? A little help here..." I nudged her as we walked down a path I think we'd been on a hundred times. She just mumbled something and continued to walk along, staring at her feet. "What's wrong with you?!" I finally blurted out. She looked at me and shrugged.

To tell the truth I was getting a little worried about her. She had told me that the only reason she was like this at Home was because the Al Bhed made her nervous. But, as far as I could tell, there were no Al Bhed here...

But I planned to act on Rikki's problems after we found Rikku.

qQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQq

**Hmmm... sorry for another crappy, extremely short chapter. I can only drawl on about getting lost in the woods for so long people. But I have good news: School's out in two weeks!!!! After that you can expect updates at the rate they were coming in April (meaning about one chapter a day). Hang with me people, I'm almost there!!!! The story picks up after the calm lands!!!**


	13. Dragging & Falling

**I was just reading through all the reviews I've gotten on this story from the beginning, and wow... They made me smile. Thanks ^-^ Anyway, I wanted something interesting and this was the best I could think of for the calm lands. Seriously, how interesting can walking across grass be? This chapter's a little weird 'cause I wrote it in my study hall while there were tons of squealing preppy girls everywhere (chicks were hatching, I have study hall in my science room...). ANYWAY, on with the story!!! I got a kick out of this one... Oh, one last thing that some of you will be happy about.... I'm going to write a sequel!! It's called Nunca (spanish for never) and that's all I'm saying! Now READ. (The new and improved version with the fixed spelling, thank you VVolf)**

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

Unless you have the IQ of a rock, you've probably deduced the fact that Rikki and I took a long time looking for the exit from the Macalania Woods. Eventually we did find our way out. I won't bore you with the details.

Rikki trudged alongside me as we emerged onto the grassy plains of the Calm Lands. I was pretty relieved but her mood didn't change at all. It was starting to get a little depressing.

The Calm Lands were... well, calm. Hence the name. A huge mass of green with a huge tent thingy smack dab in the middle. The good thing was that it didn't look like it was possible to get lost.

"Piece of cake!" I held my fist up in front of my face in triumph. **(if anyone has a better way to say that thing he does let me know...) **I ran forward, dragging a sluggish Rikki behind me.

I ended up giving her a piggyback ride. And if you're picturing a grinning Rikki making me go faster and faster, you need a reality check. She just sort of threw her arms over my shoulders without really holding on. She complained the whole way and refused to stop when we were halfway through.

I practically threw her into the dirt when we reached some bridge on the other side. She just sat down and stared at nothing.

"Rikki." I groaned. I tried to pull her to her feet, but she wouldn't budge. "Get up." I growled. She was starting to get on my nerves. I reached down and grabbed her wrists. She moaned in protest, but I started walking. She squealed as I dragged her through the dirt but didn't try to get up. I heard her whimper a little as she scraped against the wood of the bridge. She wasn't even fighting me anymore. When I paused and looked down, she was staring straight ahead, pouting.

With a sigh I reached down and picked her up, carrying her bridal style. She squirmed in my arms,causing me to lose my balance. I swore with a sailor's vocabulary as I snatched at the railing thingy. Did I mention I fell? Well, I did. As did Rikki.

I clung to the edge of the bridge, wincing as Rikki's nails dug into my wrist.

"Rikki, hold onto my ankle!" I ordered. She hesitantly grabbed my ankle with both hands, whimpering. I slowly (when I say slowly, I mean slowly) hauled myself up so that my elbows were laying on the wood of the bridge.

Somehow I managed to haul myself up with the ankle Rikki had claimed hanging over the drop. I reached down and pulled her up. She stared up at me once she was safe, her eyes huge.

"T-Tedious, that was..." She cut off and just stared at her surrounding, her eyes darting every which way. "Let's get out of here!" She jumped to her feet and then SHE was pulling ME along, claiming I was a lazy butt.

I'll never understand that girl...

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

**I think that was short but it's hard to tell with textedit. I know it's not very good though. I really had nothing planned for the Calm Lands and I need them to move a little faster if I want to do what I want to do with this story. I lied before when I said it would pick up after the Calm Lands. It picks up after Mt. Gagazet. Stay tuned, kiddies!!! (lol I've always wanted to say that)**


	14. Weirdness

**Yes, I do have an excuse for the late update, and it's not writer's block. I went on a trip. Yes, I went somewhere. It's an amazing occurrence. I went white water rafting. My advice to you is to try because it. Is. Awesome. Seriously, give it a shot sometime. Anyway, There was no computer or internet access where I was and I was busy so I had no time to write a draft or anything. Plus I had to go through hell week (AKA the last week of school) AND I went to Maine for a week with my friend Happy. And I'm sorry, but it was more fun to watch her sister kick my butt at poker then to write fanfiction.**

** And I just had to express my opinions on Mt. Gagazet in this chapter. I mean, seriously, it's the strangest mountain I've ever seen...**

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

I don't know why Mt. Gagazet is named as it is. It should be either Mt. Big-Colorful-Bear-Men or Mt. Weird. If you see a mountain that has walkways practically floating like in Guadosalam **(Seriously, was the game designer obsessed with those things?!)** let me know. Throw in creatures like that big blue thing what was with Yuna and I think you can sum it all up with "weird".

But according to my handy little stolen map, Zanarkand was on the other side.

"Tidus, come on, come on!!" Rikki jumped around me, back to her annoying, energetic self. At least I didn't have to carry her anymore.

"Rikki, we just went through all of the calm lands without stopping at all." I informed her. "We need to stop for a while." I had to admit to myself that it was the truth, even though I really didn't want to.

"How can you be tired?!" She tugged on my arm, urging me forward. "I feel like I haven't walked in hours!"

"That's because you haven't!" I snapped. "I had to carry you through the whole freaking thing! Then you almost got us killed!!" I reminded her. She seemed unfazed by this.

"That doesn't mean we can stop now! We're almost there!" She urged. "There's a cave at the top. We can stop there." She suggested.

I sighed reluctantly and agreed to her idea.

Even though I was ready to collapse right there from exhaustion and the thought of going all the way up the mountain was like striking up a conversation with the devil.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Apart from the fact that I was freezing, exhausted, and once again had a migraine from Rikki's babbling, the mountain wasn't that bad.

When we were almost at that cave Rikki had mentioned we saw the weirdest thing in the world.

And neither of us had any idea what it was.

There was some... glowing blue spike thing sticking out of some sort of lake... I'd never seen anything like it. It was... well, it was pretty darn creepy. All along the sides of the path were huge rock walls with what looked like stone bodies all over them. They were glowing just like the spike thing. They seemed to emanate a weird blue fog as well...

I just wanted to get moving, but Rikki was running around like the little freak she is examining everything. Her eyes were about the size of Jupiter.

"Rikki, can we please get going?" I called to her. It was hopeless to try to follow her around. I swear that girl's on steroids... She hopped up and down to try to see something that was above her head. Since she was technically staying in one spot, I did the first thing that popped into my head.

I tackled her.

Then, once more, I dragged her.

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

**I know, Tidus is mean to poor Rikki :(. That just popped into my head and I felt like putting it in, so yeah... Anyway, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in like... a month. But now I am back (I PROMISE). But you guys are gonna' kill me when you see the next chapter *cue maniacal laughter* Why? Well, you'll find out, won't you? *cackle* You can blame my halloween birthday for my witch resemblance... **


	15. We Meet Again

**Okay, I'm shooting for about 3 chapters a week now. Believe me, I won't be going on any more trips until 2012. You'll kill me for this chapter. But seriously, I'd rather if you didn't. Here's where things pick up. And there **_**is **_**a reason why Rikki's so whacky, but you won't find out what it is until the very end of the story… **

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

"Tidus! Leggo' of me!" Rikki squirmed out of my grip and glared at me, though the effect was lost with her adorable Rikku-like face.

"We can't stop now." I teased with a grin, quoting her earlier scolding. "Come on, we're almost at the top." She followed me to the mouth of the cave with a little bounce in her step.

"Tidus, can't we go through this before we stop?" Rikki glanced nervously around the cave. "We can stay just outside at the other end." I sighed.

"Alright." I agreed, taking in our surroundings. A path of floating stones lay in front of us. I spotted movement at the top. Curious, I began to climb the path. My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets at the voices I heard.

"She has sent fiends to test our summoner's strength." A male, very familiar, voice said with no emotion.

"Who is 'she'?" A female responded.

"Yunalesca." I shivered. The man's voice always creeped me out.

I felt a little bad about eavesdropping, but it wasn't like I was capable of moving my body.

"Who's that?" Rikki whispered in my ear. I ignored her.

"Lady Yunalesca?" The girl gasped.

"In Zanarkand, she awaits the arrival of the strongest." I decided it wasn't doing me much good being frozen to the spot. Forcing myself to move, I slowly approached them. Rikki hid behind me, stumbling along. The man turned to me.

"Ah. I was wondering when we would come across you." Auron didn't seem at all surprised at our appearance.

On the other hand, Yuna looked as shocked as I'd been moments before.

"Er… hi." I mumbled to her lamely. Her face flushed a bit and she looked away.

At least she wasn't smiling anymore.

"Yo, slowpokes!" My blood boiled as I recognized Wakka jogging towards us. He froze when he saw me. "You." He spat.

"Me." I snarled back.

"You Al Bhed loving heathen!!" He dove for me, but some dark-haired lady who had approached restrained him. **(Remember Rikku never joined their party so Wakka still hates Al Bhed)**

**"**Calm down, Wakka." She soothed. He didn't try to attack me again, but he still looked pretty pissed.

'What brings you here?" Yuna asked. She then- you guessed it- smiled. Only this time it looked genuine, and even kinda' cute.

Woah. I did _not _just think that…

"Umm, I uh… We..." I stuttered _extremely _coherently.

"We're going to Zanarkand." Rikki put a brave expression on her face and stepped out from behind me. Yuna gasped.

"Rikku!" She grinned and began to move forward, but I pulled Rikki away from her.

"This isn't Rikku." I told her. She looked genuinely confused, and her cu- natural smile was once more replaced by that forced one. The repulsive one. "We're going to find Rikku. This," I motioned to my companion, "is Rikki."

Rikki grinned. "Hi!" She bounced a little. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

"But how…" Yuna trailed off, studying Rikki. "She looks exactly like her. How…?"

"I-it's a long story." I said quietly. "But we need to get to Zanarkand to help find Rikku."

"Perhaps we may be able to help." Auron spoke up at last. I blinked in surprise. "We are also on our way to Zanarkand." He reminded me.

"That would be fun!" Rikki squealed. "It's so _boring _traveling around with just Tidus." I rolled my eyes. "He's a grouch sometimes, that one is." She added in a stage whisper. I playfully whacked her upside the head.

"Shut up." I mumbled.

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

**A bit of an abrupt ending (, and a few more details would have made this a better letter ((sorry, that's what my English teacher wrote on one of my assignments in March))) but I didn't know where to go from there. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't kill me!!!! I promise it's still a Tikku! OoO WOW, I didn't put one of my weird oOoOoOo line breaks in this chapter at all!! I think that might be a first… (apart from chapter 6, which I don't really count as a chapter it's so bad)**


	16. Fire

**You know what, I'm not even gonna' bother saying anything important in the author's note at the top. I don't know about the rest of the world, but I only read the one at the bottom. When you're at the start of a chapter you just want to read it, you don't care about some author's worthless babbling… (but I do have something kind of important to say that you kinda' need to hear BEFORE you read the chapter…) I got lazy and decided I didn't feel like fighting a giant metal-like fiend-thingy, so if you're wondering, it's just not there…**

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

You know what's weird?

There was no snow after the cave. There was tons of it ever since we stepped foot onto the mountain but at the very top, where there should have been a ton of snow, there was just rock.

Spira is a strange, strange place.

I walked a little behind the rest of the party, watching Rikki bounce around the others. Wakka was a little ahead of the group, cussing the Al Bhed under his breath.

I had to resist the urge to run up and rip his head off.

Yuna slowed down until she fell in step with me. "So…" She began, "What has happened with Rikku?" I sighed.

"I'm not really sure about that myself. Rikki knows more than I do, but she won't tell me everything." I explained. "She told me that Rikku's somewhere underground on Bikanel island, but-"

"Wait." She stopped me. "Bikanel Island… Isn't that where the Al Bhed's home used to be?" I blinked in surprise. Rikku told me only Al Bhed knew about the island.

Then I started to really process her words.

"Wait… what do you mean 'used to'?" I asked cautiously. She shook her head sadly.

"The guado found out that the Al Bhed were responsible for kidnapping summoners." She said slowly. "They… attacked home not too long ago. I hear it was blown up."

My hands started to shake. Home was… gone? What about the Al Bhed? What about Goma? The Al Bhed were the people who'd taken me in when I first came to Spira…

So I came right out and asked. "W-what about the Al Bhed? What happened to them?" She sighed.

"A lot of them got away in an airship. I'm not sure how many exactly, but I know at least their whole blitzball team got away safely." I relaxed a bit at that, but there was still a shard of ice lodged into my heart. Home…. Home was gone…

But the thing that bothered me the most was how this would affect Rikku. She loved the Al Bhed, and she'd seemed very attached to Home. I couldn't bear to think of how she would react to this.

Rikku…

I looked at the ground, ignoring Yuna, who was still beside me, and just thinking about Rikku. I hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know her, but… I felt like we had some sort of connection, a bond.

"Are you okay?" Yuna forced me out of my thoughts. I resisted the urge to frown- I was happy just thinking about Rikku- and nodded instead.

"Just… thinking…" I said quietly. With that, I sped up to go argue with Wakka.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

We camped out at the summit that night. We sat around a small campfire in silence for a while. I just sat there, staring at the flames. I couldn't quite understand my thoughts clearly- for whatever reason I'd started to think in Al Bhed.

After a while Rikki yawned and stretched. "I'm going to bed." She announced, standing up. Yuna nodded and followed her lead.

One by one, people retired for the night, until it was just me and the dark-haired guardian- Lulu.  
"You should get some sleep, too." She told me quietly. I shrugged.

"Hud denat..." I murmured. She blinked in surprise. I shook my head. "Not tired…" I corrected myself. I was just as surprised as she was that it had come out in Al Bhed. She nodded in understanding and poked at the fire with a stick.

"So… I take it you know the Al Bhed well?" She moved over next to me so she could talk to me without waking up the others.

"Yeah, I guess." I said.

"Don't listen to Wakka." She advised me. "Even after he's seen with his own eyes that Yevon is simply a hoax, he's still blinded by the teachings." We sat in silence for a while. "So I take it Rikku is a close friend of yours."

"Yeah…" I whispered. "She was the first person I met when I came to Spira." She gave me a curious look.

"Came to Spira? What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.

"E's vnus Zanarkand pid Sin lysa yht tacdnuoat ed yht duug sa rana du Spira..." I muttered as fast as I could._ I'm from Zanarkand but Sin came and destroyed it and took me here to Spira..._ I purposely spoke in Al Bhed this time. Rikku had told me not to tell people I was from Zanarkand.

"Hm?" She gave a sideways glance. I shook my head, hoping she would drop it. Thankfully, she did.

QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ

***gasp* a whisper of Tikku…**

**Anyway, I didn't plan to say this, but I'm sorry for the slow update. I guess I sort of took my sweet time cause I only got two reviews for the last chapter, one that was from my best friend. I was only planning to have a two week gap in this, but it ended up a month… Really sorry about that. Anyway, I would be writing a chapter a day (I mean it this time…) Except I'm going somewhere (pfft, you think I'll tell you where?) for a week where there's no internet. But I'll try to keep writing when I have time and post when I get back. Again, I'm sorry… **

**To tell you the truth, I'm getting a little tired of this story. But I promise I'll keep going until I reach the end and I will write the sequel, though it probably won't be very long. My summer's been kinda complicated but I hope to finish this by, at the very very latest, November.**


End file.
